Flood swamped a hospital as heavy rain continued to lash northern Thailand.

Footage shows nurses riding a truck to reach the Lanna 3 Hospital in Chiang Mai province on September 26.

The hospital announced it was only accepting emergency patients as water from the swollen Ping River gushed into the building on September 25.

The deluge swamped the reception area and several examination rooms in some six inches of water.

Hospital officials said 'non-urgent' patients will be turned away until September 30 when the flood is expected to recede.

A cafe employee working near the hospital said: 'The flood started in the afternoon. Within 2 hours, the area around the hospital was submerged. An urgent evacuation was announced because the water flowed down to the basement very quickly. After that, the level started to rise until it the building itself was flooded.'

Officials said the water level had slightly receded though the hospital was still heavily flooded.

Heavy rains have been ravaging northern Thailand in recent weeks. The seasonal downpours have caused severe floods as rivers bordering Myanmar spilled over into communities.

Thailand and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are in their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms in the afternoon leading to widespread flash floods.